Loose-leaf binder



Oct. 23, 1951 E. J. BLOORE LOOSE-LEAF BINDER Filed June 30, 1947 fir. 4. frhesf J B/aafc if I Patented Oct. 23, v 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE LOOSE-LEAF BINDER Ernest J. Bloore, Brampton, Ontario, Canada Application June 30, 1947, Serial No. 758,001

3 Claims. 1 This invention relates to loose leaf binders, and the principal object of the invention is to provide an exceedingly inexpensiv form of loose leaf metal of extremely sturdy construction which can be very easily manipulated for inserting or removing the loose leaf pages and which can be very positively locked in the closed or loose leaf retaining position eliminating any possibility of accidental opening and scattering of the loose leaf pages.

A further .and important object is to provide an inexpensive form of hinged loose leaf binder which can be readily and quickly assembled and which will incorporate my novel form of loose leaf metal as a component part.

The. principal feature of theinvention consists in forming a loose leaf metal in the form of a ring binder from a pair of sheet metal hinge plates by forming said hinge plates with a plurality of integral upstanding hook portions, hing- .ing said plates to the backing of a loose leaf binder in opposing relation with the hook portions of the Opposing plates arranged to cooperate to form loose leaf retaining rings when the plates are swung to their innermost position against the binder backing, and providing readily operable means for positively retaining the plates against the backing with the hooks inco-operative relation.

A further important feature consists in hinging the hook carrying hinge plates on the same hinge pins used in securing the binder covers to the backing piece.

A still further and important feature resides in the construction of the readily operable locking means for retaining the hinge plates with the hooks in co-operative relation, which means is adapted to engage said plates at a plurality of points along their length and to progressively increase the locking force when moved to the locking position.

Referring to the accompanying. drawings Fig. l is :a perspective-view of my binder showing the hinged plates swung to their innermostv po ition with their hook portions in co-operative relation. and illustrating my locking bar.

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but show ing the hinge plates swung outwardly from the backing piece.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical sectional view of the loose leaf metal hinge plates taken through the centre of one set of hooks and showing the hooks in co-operative relation.

Fig. 4 isa view similar to Fi .3' but showingv the hinge plates swung outwardly with the hooks in open relation.

Fig. 5 is a plan view of a portion of one .of the hinged plates showing the relation of the loose leaf retaining hooks and the hinge knuckles,

Fig. 6 is a longitudinal Section through one of the loose leaf hinge plates taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 3 and showing the locking bar the locked position. 7

As illustrated in. the accompanying drawings, my binder consists of the usual backing piece I and side covers 2, and secured to the backing piece by suitable rivets 3 is a metal plate 4 formed with spaced rolled exteriors 5 at each edge which form journals or hinge knuckles for pivot hinge pins 6 that extend through similar spaced rolled extensions or knuckles 1 of. the plates 8 secured to the. binder covers. The col/e13 2 are thus securely hinged to the backing piece 1 with the hinge knuckles 5 and 1 interleaving and spaced in pairs as shown in Figs. 1 and .2.

The loose leaf metal is formed from a pair of sheet metal plates 9 each having a plurality of spaced extensions projecting from one edge and bent out of the plane of the plate to form inwardly curved upstanding hooks or prongs 1.9; the metal along the edge of the hooks being rolled inwardly as at ll to greatly increase their sturdiness and rigidity.

Preferably the hook portions [9 of one plate have V-pointed ends 12 while the ends of the hooks of the other plate are formed with cor responding V-notches 13.

Each of the plates 9*is formed with a plurality of spaced projections l4' projecting from the edge opposite to the hooks l0, while projecting from the plate between the hooks extensions and op posite to the projections M are rolled extensions I5 forming hinge journals or knuckles. The knuckles l5 are adapted to receive the hinge pins 6 and are arranged to interleave between the spaced pairs of knuckles 5 and 1 and in alignment therewith. The plates 9 are thus hinged at their outer edge by the same hinge pins which serve to hinge the binder covers to the backing piece as clearly illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2.

When the hinge plates 9 are swung on the pins 6 to their innermost position against the plate 4 secured to thebinder backing piece I the hooks II) are brought into co-operative relation as shown inFig. l to form loose leaf retaining rings with the pointed ends I'Z of one set of hooks engaging in the notched ends, 13 of the opposing hooks.

The hinge plates 9 are preferably formed with a plurality of holes l6 adapted to register with the rivets .3 securing the plate 4, the holes being of sufficient. diameter to admit the rivet heads to permit the hinge plates when swung to their innermost position to lie flat against the plate 4.

Extending upwardly from the plate 4 are a plurality of pins ll formed with enlarged heads Ill. The pins are arranged in alignment along the center line of the plate, and slidably arranged on the plate is a longitudinal locking bar l9 formed with a plurality of spaced slots 28 which receive the pins H, the enlarged heads [8 of which serve to hold the locking bar in close frictional engagement with the plate surface.

One end of the locking bar [9 is upturned at 2| to enable the bar to be conveniently gripped and operated by the fingers, and extending outwardly from the longitudinal edges of the bar are a plurality of spaced wings 22 which are oliset above the plane of the bar and are adapted to engage over the projections l4 of the hinge plates 9 to securely holdthem in their innermost position against the plate 4 with the hooks ill in co-operative relation.

' The underside of the leading edge of the looking bar wings 22 are bevelled as at 23 to enable the locking action to progressively increase as the locking bar is forced inwardly and to ensure that the hooks ID are forced into firm engagement with gradually increasing pressure. The edges of the projections 14 of the hinge plates are also preferably bevelled as at 24 corresponding to the bevelled wing surface 23.

The stroke of the locking bar is of course govtamed by the length of the slots which are arranged so that when the bar is slid to its outward position as shown in Fig. 2 the wings 22 register with the spaces between the hinged plate projections I4 to permit the plates 9 to be swung outwardly carrying the hooks l0 apart for removal or insertion of the loose leaf pages. The inward movement of'the locking bar carries the wings securely over the projections I4 when the hinge plates are swung to their innermost position.

From the foregoing it will be readily appreciated that my forming the loose leaf engaging metal from a pair of sheet metal plates formed with integral hook extensions greatly decreases the cost of the binder metal, and the inturned edges of. the hook extensions will'ensure the required rigidity of the hooks, which co-operate to provide very rugged and efiicient loose leaf retaining rings.

It will be further appreciated that the hingin of'the plates 9 on the same hinge pins as used in hinging the binder cover members to the backing piece leadsto a very compact structure in which the hinged members can be quickly and easily assembled. In addition the provision of the slidable look ing bar and the engaging wedge surfaces 23 and 24 enables the user without undue force to quickly and easily lock or unlock-the hinge plates and ensures that in the locked position the hinge'plates are firmly engaged at intervals throughout their length toprovide a very positive locking arrangement eliminating the possibility of accidental opening of the hooks and scattering of the loose leaf pages.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In a loose-leaf binder, an elongated backing provided adjacent the longitudinal edges with spaced axially aligned hinge knuckles, a pair of sheet metal plates disposed in opposing relation on and extending lengthwise of said backing, each of said plates having a plurality of integral hooks extending upwardly from adjacent the outer longitudinal edge and curving inwardly towards the centre of said backing, the metal aid- 4 jacent the longitudinal edges of said hooks being turned inwardly to maintain the curvature of said hooks, the hooks on one of said plates being disposed to co-operate with the hooks on the opposing plate to form loose-leaf retaining rings with said plates contiguous with said backing, each of said plates having on each side of said integral hooks integral extensions projecting outwardly beyond said hooks and rolled into axialy aligned hinge knuckles inter-leaving and aligning with said spaced axially aligned hinge knucklesat the adjacent edge of said backing, hinge pins extending through the aligned knuckles of said plates and said adjacent backing edges hinging said plates to swing between a position contiguous said backing to close the rings formed by said hooks and a position opening said hooks, said pins bridging said plate knuckles across and outwardly of said hooks rigidly bracing said plates and hooks against deformation under pressure on said hooks, and means for locking said plates against said backing with the hooks in co-operative ring-forming relation. 2. In a loose-leaf binder, an elongated backing strip provided at the longitudinal edges with spaced axially aligned hinge knuckles forming a means for hinging covers thereto and having their common axes above the plane of said backing, a loose-leaf metal carried by said backing comprising a pair of sheet metal plates disposed in opposing relation on and extending lengthwise of said backing, each of said plates having a plurality of integral hooks extending upwardly from adjacent the outer longitudinal edge and curving inwardly towards the centre of said backing, the metal adjacent the longitudinal edges of said hooksbeing turned inwardly to maintain the curvature of said hooks, the hooks on one of said plates being disposed to co-operate with the hooks on the opposing plate to form loose-leaf retaining rings with said plates contiguous with said backing, each of said plates having on each side of said integral hooks integral extensions projecting outwardly beyond said hooks and rolled upwardly into axially aligned hinge knuckles inter-leaving and aligning with said spaced axially aligned hinge knuckles at the adjacent edge of said backing, hinge pins extending through the aligned knuckles of said plates and said adjacent backing edges hinging said plates to swin between a position contiguous said backing to close the rings formed by said hooks and a position opening said hooks, said pins bridging said plate knuckles across and outwardly of said hooks rigidly bracing said plates and hooks against deformation under pressure on said hooks, a locking mechanism carried by said backing, and means formed integral with said plates to engage with said locking mechanism to lock said plates against said backing with the hooks in cooperative relation.

3. In a loose-leaf binder, an elongated backing strip provided at its longitudinal edges with spaced axially aligned hinge knuckles forming a means for hingin covers thereto and having their common axes above the plane of said backing, a loose-leaf metal carried by said backing comprising a pair of sheet metal plates disposed in opposing relation on and extending lengthwise of said backing, each of said plates having a plurality of integral hooks turned up therefrom adjacent the outer longitudinal edge and curv ing inwardly towards thecentre of said backing, the metal adjacent longitudinal edges of said hooks being turned inwardly to maintain the curvature of said hooks, the hooks on one of said plates being disposed to co-operate with the hooks on the other of said plates to form loose-leaf retaining rings with said plates against said backing, each of said plates having between said integral hooks, integral extensions projecting outwardly beyond said hooks from the edge at which said hooks are turned up and rolled into axially aligned hingeknuckles inter-leaving and aligning with said spaced axially aligned hinge knuckles at the adjacent edge of said backing, hinge pins extending through the aligned knuckles of said plates and adjacent backing edges hinging said plates to swing between a position against said-backin to close said hooks in ring-co-operating relation and a position opening said hooks,- said pins bridging said plate knuckles across and outwardly of said hooks rigidly bracing said plates and hooks, a longitudinal locking bar'slidably arranged between said plates and for'mjedi with a plurality of spaced wings offset above the plane of the bar, integral spaced projections formed on said plates extendin inwardly from the longitudinal edges opposite said hooks,,said locking bar wings being adapted upon movement of the lockbeing staggered in relation to said hooks and opposite said plate hinge knuckles.

- ERNEST J. BLOORE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 516,523 Costi-gan Mar. 13, 1904 798,854 Wendla-nd Sept. 5, 1905 1,673,851 Van Valkenburgh June 19, 1928 2,036,853 Crall Apr. 7, 1936 2,089,211 Krag Aug. 10, 1937 2,229,847 Gudis Jan. 28, 1941 2,251,878 Hanna et al Aug. 5, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 190,860 Great Britain Jan. 4, 1923 

